There is now less than three weeks to use your old Ohio University ID card, but luckily, the Office of Information Technology has developed a simple process for replacing it.

Through Sept. 14, all faculty, staff and students living off-campus who have not yet received a new ID can do so by stopping by the Information Desk on the fourth floor of Baker University Center anytime between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. After Sept. 14, anyone who has not obtained a new ID card should visit HDL Center 154 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Incoming students received their ID cards during Precollege, and students returning to residence halls received new cards as part of the check-in process.

New ID cards for all regional campus students and employees have been printed and delivered to each campus' ID card office for distribution. Students should visit their regional campus ID card office during regular business hours to pick up their new cards. A list of specific locations is available at http://technology.ohio.edu/idcards/where.html. Regional campuses also will stop accepting old ID cards beginning Sept. 17.

There is no charge for employees or students to get an updated card, and some form of official photo ID is necessary. Individuals will be required to turn in their old card before receiving a new one. The new cards have updated designs and no longer carry Social Security numbers on the magnetic stripe. Instead, Ohio University personal identification numbers, or PIDs, are printed on the new ID cards.

"PIDs let us uniquely identify each individual at the university without the security risks posed by using Social Security numbers. In the hands of a hacker, a PID is nearly useless," said IT Communications Manager Sean O'Malley.

O'Malley also noted that because these numbers originally were generated only for students, many faculty and staff did not have a PID before this project began. As part of the recarding effort, everyone at the university has been assigned a unique PID.